Thistle and Flame - Her Highland Hero

by Anya Karin

  Lynne swallowed her drink and poured another without Ben noticing.

  “When first I saw her,” he tilted his head to Alice, “I haven’t any idea in the world why I thought she was so special. We’d never seen each other before, and I was wildly drunk, though that may have had something to do with it.”

  “You watch your tongue, Red, or I’ll mount it to the wall with a nail!”

  “Or it was her gentle way.” He smiled. “But what I mean is, when people say that somethin’ happened for no reason, or it was luck or it was chance, all that really means is they don’t understand why it happened. Two people fall in love and they say ‘it just happened’ but what they mean was that it was supposed to happen but they just didn’t know it until it did.”

  Lynne and John were smiling when he stopped for a breath. Ben’s cheeks were burning with embarrassment as the two of them stared at one another.

  “That,” Lynne said. “That makes a lot of sense.”

  She stifled a smile and John looked away. “Aye, it does,” he said.

  “Anyway, uh, that’s my piece on that. Sorry for breaking between your story.”

  “That was beautiful, Ben,” Lynne said. “You dinna seem the type to be a poet, but there it was.”

  “Oh, get on with it, you.” Ben grinned beneath his beard, despite consciously trying to pinch his face into a scowl.

  “Aye, that’s...I think what you say is true. Though I’m used to being angry and making everything into a problem, even when it maybe isn’t, you know? But that’s not the point here. You asked me why it is that I care about him. Why he matters to me? As I said, it’s a long story, but the short of it is that I was jealous of him.”

  “Jealous? How?” John said, never once taking his eyes off Lynne’s face.

  “He saved my Da when I was helpless. And you too,” she eyed John. “You were there too. I wanted to hurt you, even though you helped me. Do you remember, about two year ago, you and he managed to keep a farm from being sold off by the sheriff? Some new money in Edinburgh wanted a nice country farm, and Alan was to run off some poor family and make a place for the nobles to take over in their stead.”

  “I don’t...”

  “You stole so much money from those people that they weren’t able to buy the place. They were new money, their credit was no good. They had to make a trip back to London to get more of their gold and then just never came back.”

  “I don’t mean to brag, but we’ve done that many a time, Lynne.”

  “Right, but how many of them ended with you in a knife fight with that Spaniard the sheriff keeps as a goon?”

  “Ach, well, three or four,” he said with a shrug.

  “Alright you brave savage, how many of those ended with you getting pierced through the shoulder and then you barely fending off Rodrigo at the point of your sword?”

  John’s eyebrows lifted. “Well that one, just the once. That was your farm?”

  “Aye. You saved my parents as easy as that. And you never even knew it. You do so much good that I hated you. But I knew it wasn’t you who did the leading, so I hated Gavin most of all.”

  “But I guess I can’t quite make out how you’d be angry at us.”

  “Don’t you see?” She said. “Can’t you understand how even though saving people left and right is good that they all feel indebted to you? They all feel that they owe something they can never repay?”

  “I...suppose I never thought of that.”

  “You didn’t think of a lot of things, John. For one, you didn’t think about touching my hand just now, but here you are.”

  John looked down, blushed and pulled his hand away.

  “No, too late now, you presumptuous bastard,” she said with a grin as she put her hand back on top of his. “But I’m serious. You put these people in a place where everything is fine, but with a debt they canna ever repay. And that’s much worse for some people than is death, or losing a house.”

  John looked down at the table and Red Ben quirked his eyebrow at the two.

  “If you’re going to need him to roger you before we can get on with the planning, we’ve got a bed over there.” Ben said.

  Lynne pulled her hand away and her eyes got wide.

  “Finally got you blushing. I thought it’d never happen. But, listening to you, I think you have the right of it.”

  “Well,” John said, “that does make sense that you put it that way. But your indebtedness to us was all it took to have you trap Gavin? Even if we put you in a bad place-”

  “No,” she interrupted, “that’s not it at all. I was getting to that if you’d listen instead of talking, John. Even after we kept the land, we still had no money even with the handouts we got from Gavin when he swept through the area delivering gifts. We’d buy food for a week and then be out again. Something had to be done.”

  “But what does-”

  “Stop talking.” Red Ben and Lynne both said at the same time.

  “Even though we had a house we had no money. We had a farm that we couldna grow anything on for lack of seed. We had cows and sheep that died for lack of money to buy food. Something had to be done. So I thought about Gavin, or the ghost as we knew him, and then about your adventures and your – as I imagined it, wild and exciting lives – and decided to try it meself.”

  “You get rosy when you’re excited,” John said.

  “Shut up!” Ben and Lynne said.

  “Alright, alright, sorry. As you were saying?”

  “I tried it out, the life of a thief. At first everything was fine. I robbed nobles for no more than we needed. I’d steal thrown-out food and grab whatever I could to get us through. But still, we had no seed and we had no money to buy it after feeding my parents and the other wee li’l sprouts. So, I made a different decision. If Gavin stole for good, even if it didn’t always end up that way, I decided that I was going to steal for my own good. I got wild with it, I did. I don’t regret what I done, but...well, things didn’t work out as I thought they would.”

  “That seems to be a running theme, does it not?” Ben leaned back on his chair legs. They creaked again. “You got caught then?”

  “Aye,” Lynne swallowed hard. “I got caught. And in the worst way. I broke into a house – the very one into which I invited you, John, when I heard about the little plan of which I told you. The people who own that house have inroads to banks and to vast wealth on the continent. So I thought what better people to rob blind?”

  “Unfortunately,” John said, “those types are also quite cautious.”

  “And now I know it, that lesson.” She said. “I broke in through a third floor window, snuck about gathering jewels and notes of credit – for what I dinna know – and coin and anything else I could get my hands on. Then when my pouches were full, and God above were they ever full, I moved to leave by the same window, and felt a hand on my neck. I went for me dagger, slashed at whoever was holding me, and delivered a cut right to the face of that sheriff.”

  “I wondered where he got that from.” John laughed. “It looks good on him.”

  “Aye, it does. He needs another to match it, but right across his throat.” Lynne said. “But he had that Spaniard who won’t talk with him, and that was that. I was blindfolded, and paraded through the streets of Edinburgh until I found myself thrown in the back of a carriage and taken off to jail. They never put me in a cell, but they did...well, the sheriff has a taste for women who have none for him.”

  At that, John ground his teeth and clenched his fist. “I’ll string his guts out along a floor, both for you and for Gavin. I don’t care if it kills me.”

  “Easy now, John,” She said. “Rodrigo stopped him from going all the way with it, though he didn’t show up in time to keep Alan’s grimy fingers off my breasts, or in time to keep him from ripping my clothes asunder. I’m not sure what to think of him.”

  “Rodrigo? He split my shoulder, and for that I owe him the same.”

  “He was just doing h
is job. I think there’s far more behind those brown eyes than he lets on. Ach, he can’t stand the sheriff from what I’ve seen. Makes you wonder why he stays around. But to finish my tale, the sheriff kept me chained for a fortnight. And every day he’d come in, I presume after he’d finish whatever work it is that he did, and he’d torment me. Never defiling me, but he’d always strip me naked and touch me, as though he meant to. And each day he went at me harder, with more vigor. It was like he was just angry. I can’t say it was necessarily at me, but it was plain to see in his face. When I was near him, I could feel it bubbling up. He’d hit me, and tie things to my hands and twist my skin so it burned and I’d cry and cry but he wouldn’t stop.”

  “I’ll murder him. If it’s the last thing I do,” John said, “I’m going to murder him.”

  “No, John, you’re not. Because that’s quick. You kill him, that’s it. He hurts for a moment and you go off to prison or to be hanged. You’ll do nothing of the sort because I like you too much to let you do that. But we are going to hurt him. We’re going to give him another of those cuts on his cheeks. We’re going to take away his money and whatever tiny shreds of power he’s got. Make his life the same Hell that he’s made so many others.”

  “Where did you find this girl, John?”

  “She found me.” John said. “Though I know not why, if I’m honest, she found me back and Macdonald’s party.”

  “I was sent here by the sheriff. Somehow – and I’m not trying to play you for a fool – he knew that you three were going to show up. Although at the time he thought there were only two of you. He might’ve just expected you to try and rob the place while a party was on.” She shrugged. “But whatever the reason, he sent me and I went. I was to find you and seduce you.”

  “But why you? And why not Gavin?”

  “That I canna tell you. Well the second part, anyway. As to the first, he found out, through beating me, that I had a wee grudge against our ghost. He tricked me into it. Tricked isn’t the right word. He played with my emotions and convinced me that it was the right thing to do. But to get to him, he figured that I should get to you. Make you do the work for him.”

  “So the whole thing was a ruse? That noble whose purse I tried to steal and all?”

  “No, he was quite surprised at that. It almost ruined his plan. When you had me bent over in that broom closet, with your fingernails playing at my dress, I thought I might just let you have me then and there and give up with the plan. There was something about you, John Two-Fingers, which I’ve never felt before.” Her hand went across the table to his and she pulled it back. “When you moved in me, I don’t know how to describe it except that I’ve not been so secure, so safe in all my life. I dinna know how you did it, but you did.”

  “And yet, here we are having this conversation, so I mustna have been that good.”

  “He threatened my family, he threatened me. I was frightened. That’s all. But, there is one good thing that came from all that.”

  That got Ben’s attention. “Tell me you heard him talk about a secret passage through the jail by which we can get Gavin. That’s it, isn’t it?”

  “Well, yes and no. Each time I go back, there’s a guard who has a particular taste for me, although it may just be that I’m a woman. My thinking is this – since I know the labyrinth of the jail, I’ll need to be with you when you look for him, aye?”

  “Aye, but then-”

  “Hush! We’d need another woman, that much is obvious, is it not, John?” She cracked a grin.

  Silently, he nodded for her to continue.

  “That’s why I had you set up the meeting with Kenna.”

  “Why her? I mean, what if she gets caught?”

  “She will not.”

  “Not this again, this insanity is what got us pinned now!” Red Ben stood up and bent over so that his hands were on the table top. “Why are we listening to this? How do we know it’s not another trap? How do we know we’re not just about to waltz head-long into a jail with the woman Gavin loves, traipsin’ about like fools running an errand, and then walk straight into our own jail cells?”

  “For one thing,” Lynne said, “they wouldn’t keep all of you in the same cell.”

  Ben scowled.

  “I know,” she said. “I know what I’ve done and I know how it looks for me to be giving you another plan with no reason for you to trust me. I know. But why would I be here with you, making all these plans and talking to you and telling you about the sheriff and this and that...why would I do that if it was just another trap?”

  Ben looked back and forth from Lynne to John, who shrugged.

  “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but I canna think of anything else. You get back Gavin, and I can atone for what I’ve done.”

  “Alright,” Ben said. “You’re right on one count. We’ve got no choice.”

  “One more thing, Ben,” Lynne said.

  “Aye?”

  “Pour me another drink.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “No means no, Kenna. You won’t be leaving. Not at any cost.” Macdonald stuck his finger in the end of his pipe, tamping down the burnt tobacco and taking another puff. “I’m to be your husband, and you’ll obey me. I don’t care what sort of wild blood you’ve got flowing through your veins, you’ll bow to my will or feel the back of my hand until you do.”

  Kenna balled her fists and squeezed until her fingernails dug into her palms. Her jaws clenched so hard that her whole body trembled as she looked at her bridegroom with his hands draped casually across his belly, leaned back in his chair.

  “No. It’s not happening. And if you try to talk anyone into helping you, I’ll know about it. They’re all under my thumb, same as you.”

  “If you mean to keep me as a prisoner, why are you even bothering to marry me? Why not just chain me up and keep me in your cellar?” As soon as she spoke, she clamped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to let that out.”

  “Kenna,” he said, “I think somewhere in you, there’s a good girl trying to come out. I like your father, and so I took you in. I’ll not do him the dishonor of sending you back, but if you keep this up, I may well considering chaining you up in the basement and letting Alan do whatever comes to his filthy mind.”

  “Why are you threatening me? What have I done to you?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “Not yet anyway. And I mean to keep it that way. A man can’t threaten his wife. He can only tell her how to improve in her womanly duties.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Kenna said.

  “Well you are to be my wife, yes?” A smile played across his lips. “You’ve to be trained. You know nothing of mending clothes, or teething babies. Your knowledge of cattle and sheep will do you no good here.”

  “But-”

  “No, I’m not interested in temper tantrums. As you can see from the quill that I’m holding, I’m writing something. When I’m writing something, dear, that means I’m busy. And when I’m busy, I don’t want to be disturbed. Especially not when I’m writing something that brings me so much joy as this.”

  “What is it? A bill to someone who can’t pay it?” Kenna bit her lip again, but too late.

  “Oh no, not at all. I suppose it is a bill of sorts, but not to any renters. No, no, this is a bill for damage done to my estate.”

  Kenna’s throat cinched up tight.

  “You found the men who did the damage, then? So there’s no need for us to be wed straight away?”

  “Of course they were found. No one does anything as unabashed as that and gets away with it. No one I know, at any rate. To shoot a hole in my roof and steal from the pocket of your superior, that’s one thing. But, kissing my bride at her wedding party?” Macdonald made three sinister clicking sounds with his tongue. “But that doesn’t matter now because I’ve just signed the bastard’s death warrant.”

  Kenna stared at him, her jaw half open, eyes slacked and chin sunk into her neck.

 
“Is something the matter? Why would you care about the execution of some ragamuffin street tough? Wait right there. You are upset, aren’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”

  “I...no! I’m not upset. Of course not. He was just some riffraff who passed for a noble who invaded your home. Our home,” she said.

  Ramsay Macdonald scribbled something on his little paper and then looked back up at Kenna.

  “Why are you still here? Go on, I’m sure you’ve got more things to do for the wedding, which is still on, by the way. Five days now. Scurry on, little mouse, scurry back to your den.”

  He looked down, brushed his hand across what he was writing, and blew over it, then smiled. “Go!”

  After she came down from the rafters at his shouting, Kenna slipped silently out of the room, then trekked back to the stairs, dutifully returning to her room as she was told when she had another thought.

  She looked left, and then right, but saw no one. The servants were all busy clattering away in the kitchen, except for the three of them still picking up from Macdonald’s incredibly large luncheon. Kenna took a step toward the front door, expecting something to stop her, but then she took another.

  Three steps later, her hand was on the door latch, and Kenna could hardly believe how lucky she was. What seemed impossible a moment past was now about to happen. She tugged on the latch, and much to her surprise, it turned easily.

  “Good day to you, Miss Kenna. Going out for a walk?” Lachlam, one of the servants who worked in the grounds and lived nearby, said as he pushed open the door and Kenna bumped into him. “Careful of the grass in that dress of yours, it’s freshly hewn, so it could color your fringe green.”

  “No, I’m well, maybe – yes. I’m going for a walk,” she said. “What is the best way to walk?”